Essay: The Creativity Debate: Talent or Practice – What Matters More?

By William Van Zyl

Every day millions upon millions of children and students attend schools and educational centres all over the world. They go to school with expectations to learn something new, to get a new experience and most of all to express and celebrate their uniqueness. Do their teachers think about their creativity? On the creativity continuum, there are two extremes "he or she is born creative, gifted and talented" on the one end, and on the other end is "he or she has been exposed and trained by very smart parents and teachers". Read about one of the theories - the "systems approach" - which originated from Positive Psychology and according to Csikszentmihalyi (1999a). The 'flow' state is an optimal state of intrinsic motivation. 

This essay considers and discusses the creativity debate. The author considers creativity (education) in a New Zealand context. He continues to consider his practice as a Design and Visual Communication teacher. APA referencing included (academic paper). An easy read!   

• Language: English
• Publisher: Five House Publishing
• Release date: May 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9780473438364

William Van Zyl

The author had an interesting and unique childhood. Not travelling abroad - as you would expect - but venturing into the fields, bushes, tools sheds and mysterious underground tunnels around his neighbourhood. His happy place was - and still is - tinkering with ideas, science, and new possibilities. Many times while cycling he will get new ideas; he brings the unexpected, the unique, the creative in a flurry on a page or in a sketch. To this day he dreams of vicious wars and sophisticated weaponry in an innocent child's scout cave. He loves diagrams, timelines, cross sections, sketches, and details of sinister and hidden concepts and ideas; always looking for a new mystery to decode and to encode. He investigates and explores extravagant thoughts which he includes in children's books, stories and articles; he loves to include philosopher’s perspectives, articles,  intriguing stories, and poetry in his writing. Academic and research work are also his forte. He always offers a simple but practical explanation within an engaging context. Not your ordinary thinker! A lifelong scholar and teacher. 

Book preview

ESSAY: The Creativity Debate: Talent or Practice – What Matters More?

Are schools killing creativity, and what can I do as a high school teacher in New Zealand, to enhance creativity in my practice as a Design and Visual Communication teacher?

KEYWORDS:

Design and Visual Communication (DVC), Ebooks - Academic Papers, Arduino Uno, AZTEC, biomimetics, creativity, ESSSTEAM Education, STEAM Education, existentialist perspective, five house publishing, gifted and talented, innate or learned, intrinsic motivation, Ken Robinson, Lilypad Arduino, Maaori, Marae, Micro:bit, MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, New Zealand, picaxe, positive psychology, raspberry pi, STEAM education, STEM education, sustainable turtle house, system of flow, systems approach, talent or practice, theory of flow.

Credit background image: Taken from flickr.com. Created by Libby Levi for opensource.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4639590640

By William Van Zyl (Published in 2013, edited in 2018).

Copyright © 2018 by William Van Zyl

ESSAY: The Creativity Debate: Talent or Practice – What Matters More?

ISBN: 978-0-473-43836-4

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Published by Five House Publishing

https://fivehousepublishing.com/

First Publishing, 2013

Second Publishing, 2018 (edited)

Contents

ESSAY: The Creativity Debate: Talent or Practice – What Matters More?

References

So, what could a creative lesson for a DVC year 10 student look like (15 years of age)?

Sustainable Turtle House

Situation: You are a turtle living in Mexico (South America) during the age of the Aztec civilisation. You see the Aztecs travelling every day by boat (canoe) transporting vegetables, meat, etc. on their waterways. You and your turtle family live on the banks of the large lake and swim among the Aztec daily. Remember the Aztecs build their city on stilts in the water. It is the year 1521 ...

Design Brief: Design a sustainable turtle house for you and your family. The structure has to house 4 x turtles in total, including your mom and dad (or caregivers). Use bio-mimetics (ask nature how) to guide you. You have to think like a turtle (draw on your experiences-research). However, you must construct it like a human being. In other words, think like a turtle and construct (build) like a human.

‘The Turtle island’ - Inspired by the American Indian